Ancient carbon released through modern rivers

Modern rivers are releasing CO₂ not just from recent biomass but also from ancient carbon buried for thousands of years. This finding challenges previous assumptions about how much CO₂ is released by rivers, which were thought to derive mainly from modern plant material cycling into the atmosphere quickly. The study reveals that ancient carbon, such as that from deep geological reservoirs, contributes significantly to riverine CO₂ emissions, highlighting a previously undervalued source of atmospheric carbon and its implications for climate models and mitigation strategies.